The majority of Internet advertising is ineffective because most advertising is ignored by the audience. For example, pop-up and pop-under ads are considered to be a nuisance. If a pop-up ad is displayed, often users simply close the window without viewing the ad. Browsers now come with tools to eliminate these ads so the are almost never seen. Further, ads that are embedded in web pages are often not relevant to the user's interests. While these ads may be viewed by the user, they are treated as background and do not grab the user's attention.
Advertising campaigns that are successful are presented to consumers at the right time and place and they communicate persuasive messages that are contextually relevant to the activity the consumer is engaged in. Thus, there is a need for a method of advertising on a web site to utilize information from a web page a user has requested in order to customize the ad message presented on that page. By doing so, the ad becomes more tightly integrated with the activity the user is performing and as a matter of course, more contextually relevant.